Reader refutes Pobanz’s column on ‘Obamacare’

Posted: Tuesday, Nov 20th, 2012

Dear Editor:

This is in response to the Oct. 10 article by Ross Pobanz, “Who is Rep. Paul Ryan?” Let me start by saying that Mr. Pobanz exemplifies the far right Republican position espoused by Neil Newhouse, a Romney pollster. Mr. Newhouse stated, “We’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers.”

A number of non-partisan fact-checking organizations and websites have refuted Mr. Romney’s, Ryan’s and now Mr. Pobanz’s assertion that President Obama, “robbed 700 billion in Medicare deductions from your hard-earned paycheck.” This is just a plain false line of attack that continues to be repeated in hopes that if it is stated often and loudly, it will become fact. In reality, ACA, also known as Obamacare, actually extends the trust fund’s life by reducing payments to insurance companies and hospitals. It is also well to note that Mr. Ryan’s fantasy budget includes the self-same Medicare spending reductions he denounces.

Another point of contention is Mr. Pobanz’s statement that “ Facts are a hard thing unaltered by lies.” He then follows with a statement taken out of context from a complete speech whereby he only quotes President Obama saying, “the private sector is doing fine.” Over the last five years the 50 largest corporations have together totaled a return of 175 billion to shareholders or share buybacks. Unfortunately, none of this “trickled down” to the workers. So fact is, the private sector is doing just fine; workers, maybe not so much.

Yes, Reid/Pelosi/Obama did have two short years of a majority in Congress. Unfortunately, in order to right the ship that had been so badly damaged by the previous administration, they had to contend with an obstructive Republican minority with an unprecedented use of the filibuster. Their main agenda was not the welfare of the country and the economy but to make Obama and his administration look ineffective. Fact is they wanted Obama to be a one-term President and compromise was non-existent in their vocabulary. It still is.

So to reiterate Mr. Pobanz’s statement, “Facts are a hard thing unaltered by lies,” one only needs to understand that his statements have tried to alter the facts.